Bullet Train - a Kyle Halverson story

Bullet Train - a Kyle Halverson story
It starts off, and progresses into paranoia. Read, review, if you want, always appreciated.

Greensville. Greensville....I can't help but think I know that name from somewhere. It's starting to scare me. Every now and then I remember something I've never heard of. A place, a thing, or somebody. Keep cool, Keep cool. It's a simple case of...of nothing. Nothing at all. Nothing? It can't be that simple. I'll tell you what it could be. Paranoia. An excessive anxiety or fear. Maybe that’s too simple as well. Schizophrenia. Disorganized thinking. Experiencing delusions or hallucinations. Maybe that’s it. What am I thinking? I can only laugh at this. Its everything. I am paranoid. I’m paranoid of having paranoia, or schizophrenia, or something else weird like that. Excuse me; I never did introduce myself properly. I can’t say much, other then I’m normal. I’m a normal person. I have friends, and a family. I go to college, and I plan on going to the UK sometime next year. I want to travel the world. Perhaps, I can.

It was a Friday; a weekend full of fun awaits me. I was walking down the sidewalk, just got out of school. I can’t afford a car right now. That’s when I knew I couldn’t afford any type of trip or vacation anywhere. All I could afford was a bus ride home. Home, more like an apartment. I moved in Wednesday, and I have all my things up and working. So there I stand. Waiting. Waiting for the bus. It was 6:00 already, this is when the bus comes. Everyday it comes at exactly this time. But today it didn’t. Why, I don’t know. So screw it, I’ll start walking, I thought. Then I remember hearing a loud noise behind me, something real loud. It was like a building fell, just a large rush of sound. And it kept coming closer. I didn’t even want to turn around so I started running. My sides. My sides are hurting now, and I’m losing my breath. I don’t run much, I’m not the kind of person who wakes up early and runs, im not --- well I won’t bother you with why I don’t run, so ill just continue my story. I finally get enough balls to stop still in my tracks, and peer behind my shoulder. The bus? I’m dead. I have to be. I’m standing still with a speeding bus heading toward me, and the drivers most likely drunk, acting like this is an internet game and he’s suppose to hit me. Bonus 5 points if I get crushed by the wheel. I dodge a bullet. In the last minute in what seemed like 10, I jumped into a small area on the side. Remember, I was on the sidewalk in the first place, so the only place I really jumped into was a brick wall of a building. Im lying on the pavement, watching the bus hurdle through the town, with my skull throbbing, and…I’m dead. Well I kind of wish I was, because that dive into the bricks really hurt. I’m trying to regain my focus on what happened, where I am, and what’s going on. I look toward where the bus went, but its not there. I guess it sped away. No cop sirens though, which was kind of weird. A speeding bus crashing into things and nearly killing civilians should be more noticeable. Kind of weird. That’s what I thought when I didn’t hear sirens, but when I saw the bus slowly stop at the bus-stop behind me, I started asking the same questions I asked before.

I could bet my life that I just saw the same bus behind me, speed pass me – almost hit me – and speed down the block. Now I stood there, maybe bleeding from my head a little bit, staring at my ride home. And before I knew it, my ride home drove right passed me and down the road. Cold. Colder. The wind was blowing, it was getting very cold. My breath was visible in front of me. Why am I standing here? I might as well get to my apartment, no reason to stand in the freezing solitude. That’s when I heard a siren. No way. Impossible. The bus that sped pass me, crashing into things, wasn’t real….was it? Then you’re thinking…what if the reckless bus was real and hitting my head caused a concussion, quite possibly making the normal bus that stops at the busstop every day, fake. Do you think you’re confused? No, you’re not. Look at me. Look at what just happened to me! Calm down, and just get home. I’m only a few blocks away. Once I’m on my warm comfy couch, I can start thinking about what happened.

Home. The cold was a good distraction, so I forgot all about the sirens. It still freaked me out. Maybe it was pure coincidence. Mind over matter. Those were the perfect words to describe everything that had happened. Mind over matter! Was the bus real? I didn’t touch it, but I saw it. Seeing is different isn’t it? Now that I think about it, even if its mind over matter, something’s wrong with my mind. So many thoughts in my head. I sat quietly with my eyes closed on my couch, just worn out from everything. I passed out. I woke up at 2’ in the morning. I was really woozy and forgot about a lot of the stuff that had happened, until I got up and saw a mild blood stain on my new couch. Just great. Now I remembered what had happened, and my couch was stained. I got up and walked to the fridge, opened it looking for a soda or something. I then opened the freezer and saw ice I’d put there yesterday. So I grabbed a zip lock bag, threw in some ice, and held it up to my head. I don’t know how that would stop the bleeding, I needed stitches, but I don’t have the money. Looking back I was really out of it. I sat on my couch and then I heard my phone. My phone, of all things. Not even my cell phone, which my friends knew the number of, but my house phone which no one knew the number of. It got silent as I just stared at it. It was like a movie, when the killer calls the house, and the person just sits there hesitating. I had no doubt there would be some creepy voice and then Id start saying “Where are you?” and then I’ll run and break every rule in a horror movie. So I get up, put my soda on the table, and pick up the phone. Now I can laugh again. I can just laugh. Guess who answered? No one. I’m not thinking that my mind is playing tricks on me again, because their can be a good reason for a call like that. A prank call. Someone prank called the house and like usual, wont answer. Either that or they would’ve said something, laughed, and hung up. Whatever, I blow it off. I grab my soda, and walk back to the couch. I turn on my TV; it helps me feel less lonely. Hearing a voice makes it feel as if someone’s around and its okay. The phone rings again. Now my mood is stressing. I get up, walk over and answer. “Who is this? Answer me!” Who do you think answered? Yeah, no one. “I’m serious, call one more time and see what happens!” I hang up, and at that point, the TV goes off. Okay, I admit, I was spooked out, that’s all. So the phone rings one more time, before I start yelling so loud I wouldn’t doubt the other people in the apartment could hear me. “Okay, you win, I’ll unplug my phone! Dicks.” I unplug the phone and sit and slouch on the couch cursing under my breath. My Cell phone rings. Caller – Unknown. I pick it up and before I can yell my mind out, I hear a voice.
“Mind over matter.”

My mind is playing tricks on me. I need to see someone about this.
I don’t get what’s happening. I get up off my couch, shaken, and turn off the TV and all other lights. I can't stay here now. Maybe I’m too freaked out to stay here, so I leave. Where too? Where do I go now...when my house isn’t even safe. Mentally, unsafe. Your brain is one of the only things you can talk to, you think with it, it keeps you alive and well. But what happens when it stops being well, it stops befriending you, and it starts playing tricks on you. Lone behold I ask the question, why me? I’m not afraid to tell you my past, honestly, but I doubt you’d care, it has nothing to do with my...disease. I shouldn’t call it that. I don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s just a stage right now. I walk down the halls of the apartment, quietly pacing towards the elevator, thinking to myself. I need to use my brain to my fullest advantage, before my brain takes over and leads me to my death.

I press the down button by the elevator and wait.
I pat my hands against my sides waiting...

The elevator opens.
No ones inside, luckily, who would be anyway?
Now I stand in the elevator waiting and wondering where I’m going. Sigh, I remember how cold it is outside, it makes me want to just stop where I am and go back up. Here we go again. The lights in the elevator go off. It stops and all I hear is tons of noises. What kind of noises, I don’t know. Then it all stops at once, and I hear a whisper.

"Mind...over...matter"

"SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!" I screamed, to someone...anyone.
And it shut up. This must prove something...mind over matter is what it proves. My mind is slowly departing from me, and to my knowledge I can’t stop it from doing that. Every day, every hour, every minute, every second. I’m slowly going insane. No.
I’m not going insane. Dear god. The fact is....I have to use my brain and find out what’s going on, or it’s going to continuously project illusions, hallucinations, and any other tricks it can play on me until I die, or kill myself. Believe me, I don’t want to kill myself, I’m young. I have too much to live for. What am I doing...I’m still in a powerless elevator. I scream help like anyone else would, I don’t think anyone can hear me. Their all asleep. I have a cell phone with me. Perfect. Who should I call though? Whatever, it doesn’t matter, I'll just call the last message in my outbox. Weird, I don’t remember calling this number, I know the last number I called was to my friend. This numbers different, "It’s a trick...” I blinked.

The number is different.

"What the...” The number is different! I blinked again. It changed again.
I can’t take this....whose numbers are these? What’s going on!
Over 100 things racing through my mind.

The elevator door opens and all I see is pitch dark. This doesn’t even seem like a level of the apartment. I want to cry, just knowing my brain is going against me. I huddle in the corner of the elevator watching the black scene. I just stare, I’m scared, but I stare. I hear a sigh outside the elevator. It’s a loud breathing, getting louder. The lights flicker on and off in the elevator. I hear weird muffled sounds and hear something outside the elevator. I see something drop down onto the ground. I can’t even tell what it is. I test fear, and kneel a bit forward to see what it is. It’s a tooth. 2 more drop from above. I scurry back to the corner scared. Tears stream down my face as I hear disturbing noises and watch ....teeth...fall in front of me.
"What is going on"

I stare at the fallen teeth. The noises stopped…Only to start up again a minute later. I’m just entranced. My mind is blank. I’m covered with a blanket of fear.
Snap out of it! I’m always angry because my brain is getting the best of me, lately at least. What do I do? I just sit and stand around waiting for what, another hallucination or event that scares me to death? No. No! I’m not taking anymore of it. If I’m going to beat this, then I have to act. Bravery. My frown of tears turns into a crown of hope. I gather myself and think of a way to get out of this situation. Huddled in a corner crying? This is what I’ve come to. I look at the buttons on the right side of the elevator. I crawl over and push any button I can. At this point, I could care less which floor I get to, as long as it’s out of this dark abyss I’m stranded in. I close my eyes and pray. Its eternity. Sitting here, waiting. Will the door close? Or will my hope lose itself, and my last option is walking into the room. The room I heard the freakiest noises in, and saw teeth fall from the ceiling in. Can’t forget the zombie like moans. I open my eyes and realize the doors haven’t moved. My hope isn’t lost, but it’s definitely not found. I look up and notice I'm on Level 1. Wait. Level 1 is, well level 1, the level with the front door and...What’s going on? The lights in the elevator turn on. The lights outside the elevator turn on. I close my eyes again, just to open them and peer out of the door. A janitor and some person who lives down the hall were just staring at me.

"Kid, are you okay?"
"What-what do you mean?"
"We've been watching you. You were looking all around, and crying in that corner there, like someone was out to get you. You gonna’ be okay, son?"

I nodded and stood up and walked out. I was wide eyed and scared. I thought I was doing something against my mind and its tricks, but I really wasn’t. I was just imagining it all. Dear god I think I’m going insane. I’m not okay. I’m on the verge. The edge. I’m not me, I’m not being me anymore. I’m weird. Who am I? Why me? I walk out the front door and sit on a ledge of bricks outside with my hands in my face. I follow the cars with my eyes, as they speed pass me. What is real anymore? God I hope I’m dreaming. I tap my foot on the pavement and wrap my arms around myself, its getting colder now. Brrrrr. I stare straight ahead at some bush, not paying attention to it, I’m just day dreaming. I guess I’m at a certain peace now. Unaware at first, I see a small flake fall from the above. A snowflake. The first snowflake of the year. What a wonderful thing to witness. One floated down, then two, then three, and more and more until it covered the ground. I just sat there, It didn’t matter to me.
It was cold, but no, I didn’t mind. I hear something and look to my left towards the road.

A penguin walks by on the sidewalk, stops and looks at me. He makes a cute little noise. This hallucination isn’t bad at all, it’s quite amusing actually. I tap the side of my head and the penguin disappears. I just laugh and begin to daydream....

I sat and stared at the snow. It was so cold, and my mind had drifted off into thoughts of tomorrow. Every now and then I looked back at the door to the front of the apartment and noticed that janitor and that guy looking at me. If they thought I was crazy, maybe I was. Eventually they left and I was just sitting there, letting the wind slap me in the face. The stars smiled in the sky. The cars drifted by with a swift blow. Sometimes, the sounds would all stop. I could listen to the quiet scene surrounding me. It was peaceful. I looked back in the sky and was thrown back. It was the Northern Lights, Aurora Borealis. It was one of those one in a lifetime moments. Just amazing. It faded away after awhile, and then was the time I decided to get out of the annoying cold, and back to my room to go to sleep. I walked in my room and fell straight on my bed. The warmness over took me and I fell asleep instantly.

I woke up. Blood. What!? Blood! Usually when you wake up, your senses need to adjust, like your sight, but I was full with adrenaline. My curtains were stained, my carpet was stained, and blood was everywhere. I didn’t understand. I peered over to my right and saw a body. A body?! No! How could I lay asleep without hearing any of this, it’s a bloodbath, a massacre. Once again, I think this is a mind-trick. I stop panicking, and go over to the body and touch it. It...It’s matter. It’s an actual body. I felt it. Then all other thoughts sat aside, as one single thought opened up....Mind over Matter. The body must not be real. Still, the doubt shook in my head, as I actually felt the body. I touched it with my finger. The only way I could find out if this was real is if I told someone about it. Who could I tell? I burst out of my room and walked into the front and out the door of my apartment, I looked down both hallways and so no one. I walked down the left hallway and saw someone standing, waiting for the elevator. I looked in relief and walked faster down the hall. I have to get to him before the elevator opens. I quickly run by him, and he looks at me with confusion. "Sir, sir, I...I need help with something" I said.
"Do I know you?" said the perplexed man.
"I know, I --" catching my breath "--I know, but you’re the only person here and I just need your help!"
"Make it quick kid, I have a meeting soon." I can’t believe it, I just got some stranger to come to my apartment and see if a body was real. We walked down the hall towards my room and I glanced at his shirt, there was an ID card pinned to it. His name was Josh. Josh Feaser. I guess he was a typical business man or something. We approached my room and I took out my key and opened the door. He tapped my shoulder. "You never told me what this was about." he proclaimed.
"Its right in here, please, I, don’t be shocked, I don’t know how it got in here but..." I paused for a moment and we walked in my front room and then back to my room, as I opened the door -
"...I know what it looks like! Just listen!"
"Oh god! God what did you do! You brought me here to show me someone you kill—I’m out of here...I’m not going to be your next victim or something! I’m calling the cops!"
He pulled out his cell phone on the way out. And it all went in slow motion from there. I noticed something. He saw the body. He saw it. It had to be real! Now he was calling the cops, for a murder I didn’t commit. He’s a witness to this, I...I think I hit rock bottom, because now I have to kill this guy. I ran towards him and tackled him. "You saw it, didn’t you!?"
"Yes, get, Jesus, get off me!"
"I, I’m sorry" I punched him in the face and he went out cold. I dragged him in my bathroom and tied his hands with a piece of rope. I dragged and dumped him the bathtub. I went in my kitchen and grabbed a knife.
The door busted open in the bathroom and I walked in. I turned on the water and he woke up. I put tape over his mouth. I turned the cold water on the highest it could go. Screams muffled under the tape. Then I turned off the cold and turned on the hot. The screams were louder, and eventually I turned off the water all together. I thought about letting him go for a moment, until I heard the cop sirens outside, getting closer. I took the knife and slit his throat. He was bleeding everywhere. No! It’s disgusting, I’m sorry! I wanted to take it back; I tried putting a towel over the cut. I kept yelling I’m sorry! I’m sorry! His eyes staring up at me in shock and I saw his soul glare through his eyes. It was the most disturbing thing. I yelled and yelled. His eyes rolled behind his head and he slouched in the bathtub. What have I done? WHAT HAVE I DONE? I got up and looked in my bedroom.
The body wasn’t there.

What the f--the body, it-it wasn’t there. What is going on?
I walked back in the bathroom. Josh was still there. I walked into my room. The body wasn’t.
I can’t believe it. My mind tricked me. Well I can believe that, except its how my mind tricked me rather then that it did.
So if I hadn’t even touched the subject of having a body in my room, I wouldn’t have an actual body in my bathtub at this moment. The sirens were right outside. Yes...yes! They don’t know anything happened in this room. They don’t know where to look! I’m safe…for now. Now I had to get out. I searched my apartment for anything I needed, since I thought I’d be gone for awhile. I grabbed money, a coat, and some clothes. I took all the pictures from my apartment of me, any information of me, all down. I threw them in the trash and took out the trash bag. I’d bring it with me to throw out. Goodbye, Old life. I’m no longer the person I knew. My family knew. My friends knew. I’m new. I’m different now. I walked down the hallway and clicked the elevator button, I don’t know, 8 times? Anxious. I was anxious. It opened and I stepped in and pressed the bottom floor. It opened, finally, and I threw the trash in the can and walked down some steps. The bottom floor was a garage. Now I was just looking for a car. No keys! Even if I did find a lucky car that was unlocked, I couldn’t drive anywhere. I thought of Josh. He was on his way to a meeting, he must have had keys. I ran back down the garage, and through the door. On my way I noticed blood. Weird. I went up the elevator and arrived on my floor, the third. The police were there. I walked out of the elevator, they walked in. It was an awkward silence. Once it closed and went down, I ran towards my room and went in. I went to the bathtub and checked Josh's pants. I found them! The keys!

I ran to the elevator and went in. Bottom floor, bottom floor. I arrived and ran through the garage. Which one was his car?
It took a full freaking hour, but I found it. It was a nice Toyota. I unlocked it and went in. Time for my getaway.

Where was I driving too. Where to go. I drove out of the garage and past the cops.
I looked over and saw a cop starring me in the face. He knew. I turned back and focused on the road, before I knew it, I heard sirens. I couldn’t stop now. I couldn’t be caught, Id be jailed. In prison. Never. I sped off down block after block. I looked in my rearview mirror and saw the car, right on my tail. I needed to lose him somehow. I drifted and turned into an alley, just barely missing the edge of a dumpster.

I bounced in my seat as I drove through the alley…
I looked back and saw the cop drift in, catching the edge of the dumpster. It broke through the side of his door. He backed out, scratching etched metal hit my ears. I quickly drifted out of the alley into another street. Out of nowhere 3 cop cars turned around the corner. I drove as fast as I could, hoping each block I past I wouldn’t get hit by an unsuspecting car. I needed to get somewhere. I needed to get back to my apartment, but I had to do it without being noticed. I took a chance and turned on an intersection, and drove straight for the highway. Why you’re wondering? In the middle of the highway, to the right, was the back of the apartment I lived at. There was a big pool, and then steps that led to a doorway and into the apartment. I took a chance.

I didn’t see the cops behind me anymore, but I heard their sirens. I did the dumbest thing anyone would ever do. No one would do it....but me. I looked behind me, and noticed a small amount of cars, but just enough. I stopped my car in the middle of the highway. I hesitated, a moment of shock, as I peered in my rearview mirror and saw a truck. I opened my door and through myself to the ground, out of the corner of my eye I witnessed the car get hit, smashed, and drug to the side of the road, the truck swerved and hit another car. I crawled to the left side of the road and watched as a speeding van was crushed in between the wreckage. They just kept piling up. They were like bullet trains. Shooting themselves, and colliding into one another.
I needed to get to the other side of the road to jump the side and climb into the back of the apartment. I didn’t notice many cars so I went for it. I ran and looked. A car was speeding towards me, it couldn’t stop. You never really know how fast they are until your standing in front of one. I was playing Frogger with my life. I dove into the cement and rolled to the safety of the side. I gradually stood up and climbed on top of the barrier of the side of the highway, ready to jump. I heard the sirens of the police car, as I watched it disappear into the pile of metal, and my ears went out, as silence overwhelmed and the pile of cars sprung into the air, followed by a large explosion, only to be tracked with the loudest sound I’ve ever heard. The impact of it sent me flying into the pool, which was more then 50 feet away. I couldn’t see anything. I swam to the top and looked up, watching a flaming burnt car fly towards the pool. I went under water and tried to swim towards the side. The car splashed into the pool, but I was unharmed. I climbed out and limbed out, then ran towards the steps. I headed towards my room.

And here I am. In my room. My names Brian. Brian Curry. I never did tell you my name. I don’t know if you noticed, but this whole time, you’ve been reading what I keep logs of. My diary. Going insane cant be a mental image, so why not make it eternal. Make it words. It will live on. The people who thought I was crazy will find out what I was going through. Now the cops are after me, they don’t know where I am though. The hallucinations, the...illusions, the...the stuff I’ve been put through! I think its stopping. More or less. I think I’m the one stopping it. To anyone who wants to know what I really want to tell them? Mind over matter. This is the end.

Sincerely, Brian.